The regional interior minister said the current state of affairs was "unacceptable," adding that NRW was now facing an increasing amount of crime linked to the North African refugees. Jäger also warned against the "stigamatization" of North Africans, however.

According to an evaluation and analysis project led by Cologne police, more than 21,000 offenses and 17,000 suspects of North African origin have been detected since 2013.

In a second project named "Casablanca," launched in mid-2014, Düsseldorf police caught 2,242 North African suspects in more than 4,000 offenses, which included pick-pocketing, robbery and bodily harm.

In addition to the police reports, Jäger said on Tuesday that North African immigrants were "often disproportionately involved in disputes at refugee accommodation."

There's been similar cases where Christian statues were torn down by Muslim migrants.